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DEVOTED TO EVERYTHING AND EVERY ' INTEREST CONNECTED OR_ ASSO- ' CIATED WITH MARINE MATTERS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Published every Thursday by The Penton Publishing Co. CLEVELAND. BUPEAEO. 6560.18 14.006: . 932 Ellicott Sq. CHICAGO. oiciss. 38s 1362 Monadnock BIk. CINCINNATI. c. 5... 124 Government Place. NEW: YORK. soos. 1005 West Street Bldg. PREESBURG se cscs S, 521 Park Bldg. DULUTH. Correspondence on Marine Engineering, Ship Building and Shipping Subjects Solicited. -Subscription, $3.00 per annum. To Foreign Countries, $4.50. at Subscribers can' have ad/resses changed at will. ae Change of advertising copy must reach this office on Thursday preceding date of publication. The Cleveland News: Co. will supply the trade with the Marine Review through the regular channels of the American News Co. European Agents, The International News Company, Breams Building. Chancery Lane, London, E. C, England. Entered at the Post Office at Cleveland, Ohio, as Second Class Matter. May 16, 1907 THE NEW STEAMBOAT INSPEC- TION RULES. It is probable that not in many years have the Board of Supervising Inspect- ors succeeded in framing rules that will arouse such general and determined op- position as some of those formulated in the new code recently issued. Owners and builders gave hearty support to all provisions making for the greater pro- tection to life of crews or passengers, even though in some cases they bordered on the ridiculous, particularly as applied to the prevailing type of ship built on the great lakes. The builders and own- ers of the great lakes are entitled to their greater more consideration and opinions and experience given weight than any other section of the country, or for that matter than all other sections, seeing that they are putting more money into tonnage each year than all the rest of the United States, leaving, of course, THE MarRINE REVIEW naval construction out of consideration, and, over this the steamboat inspéction service has no jurisdiction. We call attention to the provisions for fire have had occasion heretofore to protection, not only to their ambiguity which is in urgent need of clearing up, but to the utter lack of judgment shown in framing them. Section 8 of Rule IV - is actually inferior to no rule whatever and only exhibits how a- lack of engi- neering knowledge may be mischievous. No change hasbeen made in this rule except to create a separate tonnage class for steamers of between 20 and 150 tons. , The features which will bring out the» greatest opposition this year, -however, | are to be found in the rules relating: to 'steam and feed pipes and boiler mount- ings. What seem to be unmistakable evi- dences of the activity of some manufac- turer are to be seen in abundance. : For a number of years. now, builders have been fitting out steamers which in these respects not only complied with all pre- vious requirements, but exceeded them, and there has not been a serious accident reported nor a caSe of a ship or lives being endangered through the points re- ferred to being in any way deficient. In fact, lake builders were many years in advance of the law in these respects and were using extra heavy pipe and fittings long before the laws made it compulsory, . and many of the lines of steam goods row standard were called into existence by the demand of builders and owners for better material. The board did itself no credit in Section 20, Rule II, as now amended; the restrictions and conditions with which it is loaded show neither fairness-nor good sense and no justifica- tion for its adoption exists or can be shown. What the cost will be to owners, upon whom the losses entailed will ultimately fall, is not easy to say, in fact it would be difficult for the say at this juncture. builder himself "to Under the rules as previously existing it was a matter of extreme difficulty to get material and builders carried large stocks amounting in one case we know of in the line of alone to close on $30,000, practically all of which were made up specially for marine use and extra heavy valves which are now useless, because the date fixed for the law to take effect, June 30, will not permit of reducing the stock materially. When -to this is added the loss on other fittings and the impossibility of getting material to meet the require- ments in the present condition of busi- ness, the rules practically put a stop to construction.'! An instance! of the discre- tion exhibited is to be found in the clause which requires that all fittings -over 2 in, diameter shall be permanently flanged. Inasmuch as the rules allow of screwed - flanges it merely means that a flanged elbow, with two screwed flanges and two additional bolted gasket joints must be substituted for an 'extra heavy screwed elbow (or T'as the case may be), sim- ply making the condition worse than be- fore. Besides, Section 19, which says, "where such pipes are made of extra heavy lap welded steam pipe up to and including 9 in, diameter, the flanges may be at- tached with screw threads and all joints in bends may be made with good and substantial malleable iron elbows or equivalent material,' stands just as it stood before, and' as it was the clause under which all equipments in recent years have been installed it certainly con- flicts with Section 20. It is to be noted that the rules no- where previous to 1907 call for the-use of extra heavy fittings, but builders have been using them for years for the gen- eral bettermert of the work. The rules are full of inconsistencies and conflict- ing clauses which space forbids quoting, but we cannot forbear our amusement at the way the board backs into the hole on the question of sling stays for com- bustion chamber crowns and endeavors to pull the hole in after it. | It is not at all probable that the rules as they stand can or will be enforced, and the least the Supervising Inspector General, through the Secretary of Com- merce. and Labor, can do, is to extend the operation of the 1906 rules until such time as the subject can be ventilated. A project is on foot for the improve- ment of the harbor at Victoria, B. C., at a cost of about $1,000,000, the amount to be exnended Over a neriod of five years. The Canadian government is. be- ing petitioned to authorize the work.